


Let Me Bleed For You

by ExtremeExhaustion



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dialogue Heavy, Fantasy, Flashbacks, I'm good at writing I promise, LGBTQ Characters, Magic-Users, Multi, Multiple Pairings, POV Third Person, Past Rape/Non-con, Prosopagnosia, Swearing, Teen Romance, Teenagers, The protagonists are all teens, The warnings apply more in later chapters, Threats of Violence, Useless Lesbians, War, Wedding Planning, aka face blindness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23150269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtremeExhaustion/pseuds/ExtremeExhaustion
Summary: A royal wedding is bringing a new friend to a gang of teens who suspect that something else is brewing when whispers of a possible war start up. The group are determined to do something when old, painful memories get dug up and affect their families. Let's go on a journey, shall we?
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Italics are going to be flashbacks/memories. Any parents will be referred to by their first name for the sake of clarity. I can get pretty graphic in my descriptions, nothing serious in the first few chapters, but please be careful later on.

Cold whipped harshly against any exposed dark brown flesh. The queen stared ahead with dark brown eyes at the destroyed village. The area had been vacant for many years, so the expected sight was old houses overrun with nature. What the woman and her court members were greeted with instead was a blackened, burnt ground with some leftover broken structures and ash floating around in a mock of snow. The grey flakes fluttered down to leave marks on the queen’s blue charmeuse dress and the black woolen capes of every person standing in front of the former village. A royal spy walked forward slowly, “Queen Hunu, I, I’m sorry for not getting back in time.” Unusually bright red hair stuck out in the bleak scene and against a pale saddened face. Queen Hunu continued to stare ahead stiffly, “...Cherry, did you see who did this?” Cherry looked up to gaze at the back of her liege. She shivered at the oddly cold and unnervingly even tone but responded back in a matching cold tone, “It was the Wanyth Dynasty, my lady.” The queen turned on her heel to march towards her carriage, “Find as much information as you can about this event and the motive behind it. Report directly to me, Cherry, don’t allow anyone to get in your way.” The royal spy bowed her head before vanishing in a burst of smoke.  


“Nele,” A tall, muscular woman stepped forward with a fierce look on her pale face, “We’ll discuss strategies back at the castle. I want you to look around here for any weapons or messages left behind.” Nele gave a curt nod, secured her platinum blonde hair into a ponytail, and strode off with a loud shout that prompted the soldiers to follow. “Aadila, follow them and record whatever is found.” The queen glanced at the youngest member of her council. Queen Hunu’s face softened at the sight of the young woman shaking like a leaf with a look of horror on her face. “If it gets too intense, you may leave early.” Aadila bowed, clutching the loose fabric of her hijab with tears running down her tanned face, and rushed off after the others. The queen continued to make her way back to her carriage where even the horses seemed to be uneasy. A knight clad in full armor stood stiffly holding the carriage door open. White gloves crinkled as the queen grasped her skirt to pull it up and step inside. She paused with one leg up on the step, “Please join me inside, my knight.” Metal clinked in time with a nod. She pulled herself inside and sat down on the cushioned seats of the carriage where she waited looking at her clasped hands in her laps.  


More metal clanged and the carriage shook a bit but the queen never looked away from her hands. Loud whinnies rang out outside before the carriage began bouncing along in rhythm to the horses’ trot. A few more louder clinking noises could be heard before quieting. Fingers wrapped in steel reached forward to carefully grasp gloved ones. Queen Hunu moved her gaze up to study her knight. Long, slightly wavy black hair hung heavily in a high ponytail with the bangs hanging out to obscure the right half of the face. Thick, unpainted lips hung in a concerned grimace as black eyes scanned one of the queen’s hands (when had her glove been taken off?). The warm undertone of lighter brown skin stood out against the cool tone of the silver metal. A sudden chill and a firm voice drew her out of her daze. “I told you to not to redirect your magic like this. Your entire forearm and hand is frozen.” Queen Hunu smiled grimly, “I’m sorry for making you worried, Loukya. This is the only way I know to hide the fact that my magic leaks out when I’m emotional. You know that I’m renowned for having excellent magic control.” Loukya sighed before blowing warm air onto her queen’s hand. The white crystals crunched even under the gentle grasp, glowed a light blue, and began evaporating off in bright sparkles. “I hate politics so much. You get hurt so often because of it and from things I can’t protect you from.” A genuinely happy smile replaced the sad one. Queen Hunu leaned forward and kissed her knight on the cheek, “You’re so sweet for a toughened fighter.” She leaned back before frowning again while idly playing with Loukya’s fingers, “I promised you that I’d get you your homeland back.” Loukya stroked her queen’s hand with her thumb. She remembered that promise.  


_Loukya clutched her sword tightly. The smell of blood filled the air of the village and clung to the homemade armor. Her skin crawled with filth and her whole body ached from fighting and years of neglect. She looked around at the remaining members of the coup. The nobility of the village had been neglectful of the lower classes to the point that every person was living in poverty. Anybody who dared to beg for assistance got slaughtered in public. Tears burned her eyes as the memory of the screams of many parents including her own. Two people flanked her sides. Corbin stood to Loukya’s right cradling a broken arm. Mariam stood to her left holding bloody bandages to an abdominal wound. Everyone was hurt. There weren’t any adults left to take care of them. Loukya’s young mind raced, uncertain of what was to come, when Mariam spoke. “Guys, look!” Fog swirled and mingled with the dust. Dark figures were walking towards the small group of rebels. Loukya gasped as frost rapidly covered the ground.  
_

_The air cooled and made everyone shiver. All the younger children screamed in fear at the sight of two sets of glowing, pale blue eyes. A dark skinned woman appeared from the fog with a young girl holding her hand. The glow faded from their eyes leaving behind normal, brown eyes, “My, my, what happened here?” The kids all held each other tightly. Corbin was the first to speak, “Our nobility attempted to eliminate all of us. We fought back and won, ma’am.” The woman nodded slowly and glanced around at the destroyed village. Her deep purple dress stood out starkly among all the earthy or red colors. “You’ve been left with very little...I am Queen Salenna of the Aiyelia Kingdom and this is my daughter, Princess Hunu.” Princess Hunu smiled and waved from her place beside her mother. Queen Salenna gazed warmly at the small group of shivering children. Loukya ignored the woman and focused solely on the princess. ‘She’s so pretty.’ Loukya gasped and hid her face against Mariam’s arm when Princess Hunu looked right at her. The girl tugged at her mother’s sleeve, “Mama, are we taking them back home with us?” Queen Salenna looked out at the group and held her arms out openly, “Would you like to come with us?” The queen laughed when the kids rushed to her and clung to her skirt. “Come along children, let’s get you all patched up.”  
_

_“Thanks for agreeing to be my knight.” Loukya blushed and looked away bashfully as her liege brushed her hair. “Thanks for letting me and my friends stay in your home.” Princess Hunu started to braid the soft hair she just brushed. The princess had been very excited to have other people beside her parents and staff in the castle. “My parents take people in all the time. They let ‘em stay for a while, rebuild the destroyed village, and then they can go back home.” Loukya drew her knees up to her chest and clung to them. She stared sadly at the bandages wrapped around her legs. “I don’t think I can ever go home. Everything was destroyed.” The 10 year old let out a squeak when the 11 year old grabbed her face and squished it in her hands. “You will get your home back and I’ll help you do that,” Princess Hunu smiled brightly, “I promise.”_  


The knight spoke softly, “That was about twenty years ago. You don’t have to keep a promise that old.” She watched sadly as her queen’s eyes closed in exhaustion. “That strip of land is the only thing between the Aiyelia Kingdom and the Wanyth Dynasty. It needs to be kept at least unclaimed. I can’t afford to give it up. Not when the Wanyths have been so aggressive lately.” Queen Hunu laid down on the seat and curled in on herself. Frost began to spread over the seat. Loukya had to let go of the queen’s hand before the frost spread onto her arm. She watched, heartbroken, at her liege’s obvious distress. “What a terrible thing to happen the week before our wedding.” The knight decided to ignore the risk and move to the same seat to pull her queen’s head onto her lap. Loukya gently caressed her fiance’s face and the two sat in the carriage in silence after Queen Hunu fell asleep. The peaceful look on her love’s face warmed her heart. Her face hardened in determination. This was their wedding they’d been waiting to have for years and it was going to be a happy event no matter what.


	2. Preparations and Potions

Nerida hummed a tune she learned from an old woman in the market as she snipped the thorns off of roses. Normally, she’d be training at the castle but with the royal wedding coming up giant orders of arrangements came in. Since only her mother worked in the shop, there was no way the orders would be filled on time without some assistance. Mariam was assembling bouquets with the rapid speed and grace of an experienced florist. Nerida’s eyes drifted to watch in fascination at how easily she made the orders when she herself struggled to put flowers together without breaking something. “Where did you learn that song?” The sixteen-year old yelped when she pricked her finger at the sudden sound of Mariam’s voice. She shook her hand with a grimace, “I learned it when I went to buy polish for my sword.” Mariam nodded slowly, “Do you like learning songs now that you’ve aged a bit?” Nerida felt her face flush a bit from embarrassment at the memory of her yelling at her mother about how childish learning to sing was. She returned to cutting thorns off, “Yeah...sorry about that Mama.” The florist waved off her daughter’s apology, “You were a child and the song I was trying to teach you took patience you hadn’t developed yet. You got frustrated so I put off teaching it to you. I could start teaching you again if you want.” “Really?!” Mariam jumped a bit at the sudden volume increase. Nerida bounced up and down, embarrassment forgotten, with a bright smile. “When can we start?” A small smile curled onto a tanned face as Mariam looked over her list of orders, “After the wedding when the shop is less busy. Now, where did I put the willows?” Nerida slumped down onto the table before perking up again, “Willow! I said I’d go with Alvina and Radella to see Ms. Willow!”  


Mariam watched her daughter rush around, grabbing her stuff, and grabbed her arm before the teen could run out the door. “Ask Ms. Willow for a flower preservative potion. Give her this for payment.” The florist placed a small bag into Nerida’s satchel before placing a kiss on her temple. “Stay safe, all of you.” “We will, bye Mama!” Nerida smiled brightly as she ran out of the shop and down the dirt road. Her boots hit the well-walked ground through the streets of Frostford while she greeted any townsfolk who greeted her. The teen slowed to a jog once the buildings started to thin out then to a walk when an old, elegant-looking house came into view. Instead of going directly into the house, Nerida walked into an attached stone building with a sign reading The Raven Blademaker. The first person she saw was her childhood friend Alvina, who stood at a towering 5’ 10”, standing next to her father Corbin, who stood at an even taller 6’ 5”, making a dagger. Corbin was carefully carving an intricate design and quietly explaining what he was doing step by step. An even younger girl named Radella was standing further away watching with a bag strapped to her back. Nerida walked carefully over to the 12 year old. “What’s up Della-bella?” Black eyes glanced over to meet bright green, “Just waiting for the lesson to be over. We were gonna leave then Mr. Corbin stopped Alvi. He wanted her to watch him carve into the ceremonial blade.” Nerida furrowed her eyebrows, “Ceremonial blade?” Corbin didn’t look up from the heated metal as he spoke, “Knight Loukya comes from a warrior-based culture. They don’t exchange rings, they exchange decorated blades. Both rings and blades will be used as a compromise. I’ve been asked to create the blades while someone from another village is making the rings.” Radella glanced around to look curiously while the older girl leaned back on her heels, “Cool, but we have to go see Ms. Willow. It’d be kinda rude to not show up after saying we’d visit.” Nerida sunk down a bit when the man stood at full height, feeling tiny by comparison. He turned to look at Alvina, “Why didn’t you say something? Go, we’ll continue this later.” The seventeen year-old gave a brief bow before picking up a discarded burlap sack and escorting the other girls out with her.  


The three girls started to walk down the dirt road leading into the forest. Nerida glanced over to Alvina, “How come you didn’t say anything?” A pale hand swept black hair back away from the older teen’s face before coming down to loop around Radella’s shoulders who leaned into the touch with a smile. “I don’t generally argue with my dad. I also enjoy learning about how he makes things. That’s why I became his apprentice.” Nerida gave a small snort before running ahead a bit to do a balanced walk on the root of a tree. Her hair swung in the braid her mother had done this morning. “Did you decide on an apprenticeship yet, Della-bella?” Radella slipped from Alvina’s grasp to try and catch up. Alvina kept her slow pace and allowed herself to lag behind. “I started a healer apprenticeship with Ms. Hazel.” Nerida looked over her shoulder. Her nose wrinkled and her eyebrows furrowed, “The lady that dresses in the owl-based outfit?” Alvina’s deeper, calm voice called out from a few feet away, “That’s Ms. Murigen. Ms. Hazel dresses in clothes that are raven themed.” Radella also wrinkled her nose, “They also look completely different. Ms. Hazel is the one with the yellow eyes and Ms. Murigen has ginger hair.” Nerida offered a shrug, “You know I suck with faces. I know they’re not strangers, but I can’t tell them apart that well. Their clothes are all super similar.” Alvina easily caught up to them to smooth out Radella’s short black hair that was currently sticking up from some stray tree branches. “Be nice, Della, Ner can’t do anything about it.” They had gotten far into the forest and were nearing a small shack. However, Radella still had more questions. “So, how do you know who people are if you can’t see faces?” Nerida hummed while swinging her arms, “I usually pick out something specific about people to know that it’s them like Alvina and her dad are super tall. You have a little birthmark in the shape of a heart on your right cheek. That’s how I know it’s you, Della-bella.” The young girl let out a soft ‘oh’ and touched her face. Alvina scowled a little, “You use my height to identify me?” The other teen let her arms fall and pouted, “C’mon, you’re almost six feet tall and your dad’s almost seven feet tall. You guys are really tall compared to everyone else in the village. My Ma uses your height that way too.” Alvina rolled her eyes fondly at her oldest friend’s whining. Before any more retorts could be made, Radella rushed ahead and knocked on the old wooden door to the shack.  


After a few knocks, a soft meow came from behind the trio. They all turned around to look at a large, old cat with a long black coat and white patches. Its tail swished around in amusement and it was carrying a bag filled to the brim with plants. The cat began to glow and shifted which brought an excited squeal from the two younger girls. Alvina simply watched with a small smile. The glow faded to reveal an older woman with grayed, tightly curled hair and bright pale patches littering otherwise dark brown skin. She smiled at her guests, “Would y’all scootch over so I can open the door?” They moved out of her way and watched the older woman unlock the door before following her inside. “I apologize if we were late, Ms. Willow.” Willow waved away the apology, “No need to say sorry, baby, it gave me plenty o’ time to gather more herbs.” Alvina bowed her head, “Still, I feel terrible for keeping you waiting, ma’am.” Willow hummed while picking up an open bottle filled with pink liquid and swishing it. She took a pinch of a dried out herb and added it to the bottle. This changed the liquid to a more purple color. Willow plugged the bottle before handing it over to Alvina, “Hush and take your potion. I changed your dosage to three drops a day. That should be enough to prevent stubble all together.” Alvina took the bottle and slipped it into the sack before pulling out some small sheets of metal. She handed them to the witch, “Here’s the iron you requested.” Willow examined the iron that had intricate carvings which were barely visible, “Beautifully done, thank you.” Alvina moved to stand next to a well-worn couch as Nerida stepped forward to take her place.  


The teen was digging around in her satchel for the bag her mother had given her, “Good morning, Ms. Willow!” The old woman laughed at the cheerful greeting, “Energetic as ever, I see. I’m glad you recognized me.” Nerida shrugged, “Yeah, you’re pretty easy to identify. Mama asked me to get some flower preservative potion so she can premake bouquets before the wedding.” Willow hummed, holding her chin, and turned around to search through the multiple bottles lined up along the cabinet in the wall. “I know I have some left over from the last celebration.” Her hand grazed lightly over the glass bottles, “My eyes haven’t been the best lately so gimme a minute.” Nerida leaned forward to look at the shelves too, “I can help you look. I might suck with faces, but I can read.” Willow shooed the teen away back towards the couch, “I can find it. Go sit, stay awhile. Alvi, baby, you can sit down too.” Nerida plopped down on the couch next to Radella, who was playing with her bag straps, while Alvina stayed standing. Her hands were clasped behind her back, “I prefer to stand, ma’am.” Willow gave a heavy sigh, “You’re just like your father. Could never get him to sit down either whenever he dropped by. Aha!” The old woman grabbed two bottles filled with a murky dark green liquid. She handed the bottles to Nerida who handed her the small bag in return. Radella wrinkled her nose at the bottles, “That looks like swamp water.” Nerida just shrugged while putting the bottles carefully into the satchel, “It does, but it works.” Willow put the small bag into a large wall cabinet full of drawers with the names of ingredients written on the wood. She wiped her hands on her skirt to get rid of some dirt, “Sweetheart, did your mama send you to get somethin’?” Radella looked up from her bag. She hid a little bit behind the black leather which caused Willow to laugh. “Going shy on me all of a sudden? It’s ok, baby, you can come out from behind that bag. I ain’t gonna bite you.” Radella slowly rose from behind her bag and shook her head, “No, ma’am.” Willow smiled down at the child before heading towards the back of her home. “If that’s all you need and have no questions for me, y’all can hurry back to town. I gotta get busy making more potions.” The two younger girls got up from the couch to follow Alvina out the door, “Bye, Ms. Willow!” “Bye, babydolls!” Nerida shut the door behind them as they left.  


The trio walked back towards the village and only Radella was free to run ahead as she had no bottles to worry about. This left Nerida and Alvina to walk together a little ways behind the younger girl. Alvina glanced down at her friend, “Have you heard of the royal family coming to see the wedding?” Nerida shook her head, “I’ve been on break from training to help Mama with the wedding preparations, so I haven’t been in on all the gossip like I usually am.” The taller teen slowed her pace a bit more so her shorter friend could keep up, “From what I’ve heard, it’s the family from the Nizia Empire that was originally the Niti and Kanzia Kingdoms.” Nerida nodded along to what Alvina said. “There’s obviously the emperor and empress. I heard that they have a single daughter.” Nerida wrinkled her nose, “What’s the daughter of an emperor and empress called?” Alvina looked up towards the sky in thought, “I believe they’re called a princess still.” The younger teen pouted a bit at that, “That’s kinda lame. Nobody could come up with something new?” Alvina glared lightly at Nerida, “That’s not the point. A royal family is coming to town, things are going to be even more chaotic, and you’re probably going to meet them.” Nerida groaned and started walking more in her heels, “Oh great, the market is going to be terrible to wade through. I don’t see why I’d be meeting them though.” Alvina had turned to gaze at Radella to make sure she didn’t fall. “I thought the knights in training are usually paired up with a knight to escort the royalty.” Nerida lifted her arms up and put them behind her head, “Yeah, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be picked for it or that the trainees will be allowed to talk to them. It depends a lot on who they are, but normally when someone from the Wanyth Dynasty comes, they don’t even want to look at us let alone talk to us.” Alvina let out a huff, “I’m fairly certain that’s because it’s the Wanyth Dynasty royals. Every text I’ve ever read on their society says that it’s incredibly cruel to people who have any instances of misfortune and the people are prone to outbursts of group violence. It appears as though the God of Slaughter himself has made his home there.”  


Nerida focused on Radella who had almost tripped while skipping, “Anyways, I have no clue what protocol is going to be. I’ll go to training later today to ask.” Alvina lifted a stray tree branch out of her way, “Good, I need to get back to helping with the ceremonial blades. I also need to figure out something for Radella to do.” Nerida jumped up to walk on some tree roots again, “Oh yeah, why is Della-bella at your house? Are your parents hooking up?” Alvina swung her arm and caused Nerida to stumble and shriek, “Get your long ass limbs away from me!” “Then don’t say stuff like that.” Alvina crossed her arms with some anger still stewing in her eyes, “Radella’s mother is the best dressmaker in the kingdom, so she’s making the queen’s wedding dress. She’s been at the castle and can’t bring Radella with her because of security risks.” Nerida laughed while still holding up her arms defensively in case her friend swatted at her again, “What security risks could a kid pose? Hey, kiddo, you gonna wait for us?!” Radella paused at the shout and slowed her pace. Alvina sighed, brushing hair away from her face, “I’m not sure. Regardless, Radella is at my house and is in need of something to do.” Nerida hummed before perking up, “She could come help in the flower shop. Even as a novice, the worst that’ll happen is her fingers could get pricked by the thorns. Della-bella!” The preteen stopped and turned back as Nerida jogged to catch up to her. Her wild bangs fell into her face as Radella looked up at the older teen, “How would you feel about coming with me back to the flower shop to help make arrangements?” Radella did her best to keep walking while still looking at Nerida, “Today?” “Mhm, so you’d be following me when we get to the village.” Radella glanced meekly to Alvina who gave a nod before glancing back, “Ok, is it hard?” Nerida took Radella’s hand, “It can be, but as long as you listen to my mom, it’ll turn out ok.” The trio climbed up a hill and got to Alvina’s house. “I’ll tell Father where you are. We’ll probably come pick you up before the sun completely sets.” Radella waved cheerfully, “Bye, Alvi!” Nerida tugged on Radella’s arm, “I’ll tell ya’ what’s going on later, Alvs! C’mon, Della-bella, we’re burning daylight!” Alvina smiled a bit and waved bye before disappearing into the house. This left the duo to run off towards the flower shop while giggling along the way unaware of the quiet whispers now spreading through the older members of the village.


	3. Suspicion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of uncensored swearing in this chapter

Princess Ebele watched the rolling hillside, farms, and meadows pass by from the window of the carriage. She pressed her face harder against the glass to try and get a closer look at the cows grazing. At the sound of her mother’s laugh, Ebele pulled away from the window to look at her parents. Empress Ndidi gazed lovingly at her daughter while Emperor Hien slept slumped against his wife. The princess shifted to sit back down properly, “Mom, why are we going to Frostford?” Her mother reached out to squeeze her daughter’s hand, “We’re going to a wedding that’s very important to the Aiyelia Kingdom which could affect our empire too. That’s for me and your father to worry about. You just focus on having fun and maybe making a few friends.” Ebele swung her legs back and forth with a hum. She picked at the skirt of her dress, “Where are we staying?” Empress Ndidi shifted to carefully transfer her husband’s head from her shoulder to her lap, “We’re staying in the castle there. It’ll be a little smaller than ours since our empire used to be two kingdoms, but it should still be nice.” The princess leaned against the window again. Her eyes darted around trying to look at everything passing by in the rural country. “...are the people there nice?” The empress chuckled at the increasingly drowsy tone. “They were kind the last time we went there. You wouldn’t remember since you were fairly young. Queen Hunu adored you when we—'' Ebele had slumped down fully into the seat, rocked to sleep by the movement of the carriage, and her tiara was now on the floor. The rest of the ride passed by in silence with Empress Ndidi watching her husband and daughter slumped down asleep with a smile.  


“That potion doesn’t just look gross, it smells gross too.” Nerida patted Radella’s head as the other girl pinched her nose shut. “Yeah, you get used to it, kiddo. I grew up smelling that stuff all the time.” Nerida kept her hand on top of Radella’s head while Mariam glared down at the bouquet she was treating, “Stop complaining, the smell will go away in a few minutes and the flowers won’t wilt for weeks.” Radella grumbled and let out a squawking noise when Nerida suddenly ruffled her hair. She swatted the older teen’s hands away with a tiny pout. This didn’t erase the bright smile on Nerida’s face, “You did a great job helping out. We got a lot done today.” Mariam plugged the potion bottle before looking up out the window. The sky had turned pink, purple, orange, and yellow. It gave the various bouquets a nice glow. “We should be getting you back home soon. It’ll be dark out soon.” Radella picked up her bag and held it, “Alvi said that Mr. Corbin and her would come by to pick me up.” A loud knock echoed through the shop. Mariam took off her apron to hang it on the rack, “Sounds like they’re here.” Radella and Nerida walked together behind the florist towards the door. Mariam opened the door to reveal a knight clad in a full suit of armor standing there. “Good evening, ma’am.” “Who the fuck are you?” Radella’s eyes widened as she expected the knight to get angry at the florist but the man just sighed instead. “It’s Knight R, ma’am, your daughter’s mentor?” When Mariam continued to glare at the knight, he moved his cape to reveal a bright red emblem of a dog holding a sword in its mouth. Nerida peeked her head from behind her mom to look at the emblem, “Yeah, that’s him.” Mariam scowled at the knight, “Why would you cover up the one thing that we use to identify you?” Knight R bowed his head.  


“My apologies, ma’am, I didn’t intend for that to happen. I came to retrieve Nerida. Your daughter was chosen to be a part of the escort team and she can’t miss these next few drills.” Mariam’s scowl fell a bit, “I see. Wait here, I’ll send Nerida out in a bit.” The woman closed the door before turning around, “Nerida, go get ready. Radella, go find somewhere to sit. If nobody comes by to get you soon then I’ll take you home myself.” Nerida nodded and rushed off to her bedroom. Radella stayed, shifting the weight on her feet, and Mariam looked at her, “Are you worried about something?” Radella kept staring at her feet, “...did something happen to Alvi and Mr. Corbin?” The florist ruffled the girl’s hair gently, “I’m sure they’re fine. They probably just got caught up in making the blades. Now, go sit down. I’ll come sit with you once I see Nerida leave with Knight R. Take a deep breath and calm down.” Radella took a deep breath and wiped some tears from her eyes before shuffling away towards the non-shop portion of the house. The woman stood alone for a few seconds before opening the door again. She looked at the knight with serious, hard eyes, “Rumors have been spreading around. Tell me what happened.” Knight R angled his head away from the florist’s harsh gaze, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The knight flinched when a blade was suddenly angled to stab into the slits of his helmet. Mariam’s dark green eyes bored into the void of the helmet, “You’re going to tell me what the fuck happened immediately.” Knight R slouched when the blade was taken away from his face and hidden. He fixed his posture and stood stiffly, “The Waynth Dynasty destroyed a village in the territory of the fallen Liphaca Dynasty. We don’t know if it was just an act of mindless violence or a threat towards us. The Queen refuses to act until she knows, but a war may be at our door.” Mariam clenched her jaw at that. The pair stood in silence for a bit before the florist spoke in a much softer tone, “Has Knight L said anything regarding the former inhabitants of the Liphaca Dynasty?” Knight R kept his head forward before turning to look at her.  


The knight’s eyes were still obscured by his helmet, “She said that she may request the assistance of former inhabitants in the future. The land may have aged, but the former citizens still know that land the best.” Mariam looked up towards the ceiling, keeping silent, and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Quick footsteps drew the adults’ attention away. Nerida stood proudly in her tunic and basic armor with her satchel strapped tightly to her chest. Her helmet clinked in her arms as she jogged up to her mentor. “I’m ready to go! Mama, can you tell Alvs where I went? I don’t think I’m gonna be leaving the castle for a few days.” Mariam drew her daughter in for a tight hug, “I will. Be smart, and have good manners. Royals can be a pain in the ass, but you gotta be polite to them still.” Nerida giggled as her mother planted a kiss on her cheek, “I know, Mama. I love you and I’ll be back to help with the flowers soon.” Mariam squeezed her daughter once more before letting go. “I love you too, my little nymph.” Knight R bowed to Mariam, “We shall take our leave now. Come along, Nerida. We must hurry.” The florist watched as the two took off with a small grimace on her face. She didn’t get the chance to shut the door before two towering figures appeared and her grimace deepened into a scowl, “Late again Corbin.” Corbin stopped in front of the door with a light grimace of his own, “I’m aware and I apologize. Alvina, please go fetch Radella from inside.” Mariam stepped outside into the lingering warmth of summer as Alvina darted into the building, “Radella is in the house, not the shop.” A softly muttered ‘thank you’ was the only response given. This left the two parents alone in front of the shop. “It’s strange seeing fear on your face, Mari. Not even my height has ever provoked a fearful reaction out of you.” The 5’2” woman snorted at that. “Why should I be scared of a dramatic tall ass like you? Still, it’s not like you haven’t seen me spooked before, Cory.”  


Corbin leaned down to be able to look at Mariam better, “It’s unnerving when you get scared because that means it’s something very serious. What did you find out when you, um, “questioned” that knight?” Mariam closed her eyes and hugged herself, “Cory...they destroyed it.” “What?” “The village. Wanyth’s men destroyed what was left of it.” “...” “And Kya might have the former inhabitants fight there again.” “Mari…” “Cory...I don’t know if I can go back there. I just...” He put his hand on her shoulder, “I know.” They could suddenly hear two loud voices going back and forth from the inside of the home. Corbin squeezed Mariam’s shoulder, “We can talk about this more later. For now, let’s try to focus on the fact that our old friend is getting married.” Mariam opened her eyes and Corbin kept his face carefully aloof to not betray the sinking feeling he got from the total rawness in those green eyes. He took his hand away right as Radella and Alvina came out of the house. “Say goodbye and let’s get going, girls.” Radella waved energetically, “Thank you for letting me stay at your house! Bye!” Alvina bowed her head, “Goodbye, ma’am.” Mariam barely lifted her arm, but waved goodbye, “Alvina, Nerida was chosen to be a part of the escort team, so don’t come storming my house looking for her.” The tall teen only gave a small nod in response. Corbin stared at the florist for any signal that his physical presence was still needed, but the woman slipped back inside without another word. The sun had completely set by the time Radella had been dropped off and the pair had returned home. Alvina closed the door behind them. She lingered in the doorway looking at her father’s back. “Father, is there something else besides the wedding going on?”  


Corbin ran a hand through his black hair, a nervous tick he could never really get rid of, and looked up at the ceiling. His arm fell back to his side, “No, darling, nothing new is happening.” Alvina frowned and grabbed her father’s arm, “Then what are all the old women in the bakery whispering about?” He placed a hand on the top of his daughter’s head in an attempt to soothe her, “They’re probably just gossiping about the royals coming into town. You know how easily people get up in their own imaginations while speculating.” Corbin started to walk away towards his office. Alvina marched after him with a scowl on her face, “But—” She smacked into her father’s back when he abruptly stopped. Alvina looked up, ready to argue, but couldn’t make a sound when she saw her father’s face. His face had an extremely stern look to it, “Alvina, you need to take your potion and get to bed. It’s late and we have only done about half of one of the blades. Don’t waste your energy on gossip. You’re smarter than that.” The teen deflated at the firm tone, “...goodnight Father.” Corbin sighed deeply, “Goodnight, dear.” Alvina watched carefully as her father disappeared before walking through the house to her room. She went through her normal routine of bathing, changing into night clothes, saying a quick prayer to the Patron of Blademakers for a good product, and drank her dosage of potion. Alvina smiled in delight as some faint black stubble fell off her face. While it wasn’t very noticable, it still annoyed her as it made her face look less feminine than she wanted. She carefully put the potion on her nightstand and sat down on her bed. Alvina picked up a hand mirror, activated the spell on it, and waited for the colorful blob to morph into Radella’s and Nerida’s faces. Both girls were in bed with the former laying on her back and the latter laying on her stomach.  


Alvina’s eyebrows furrowed, “Ner? I thought you were escorting visitors.” Nerida shook her head which caused her long hair to bat herself in the face and spoke in a soft voice, “Not right now. I had to come to the castle to run drills and be prepared for when they actually get here. We were gonna go over drills all night, but the queen gave an order for everyone to get some sleep so we’d be more alert in the morning.” Radella leaned closer to her mirror, “Did you get to see her?” “No, trainees don’t get to see the royalty much. I will when I do the escort mission.” Ignoring Radella’s disappointed ‘aww’, Nerida focused on Alvina’s face in the mirror. Nerida cradled her face in one hand, “Why’d you call Alvi? You look upset about something.” Alvina leaned back against her bedframe. She drew her legs up to rest the hand mirror against them. “I have a strong feeling that something is going on behind the scenes. My father and your mother were talking about it when I was getting Radella. I asked Father, but he refused to tell me. Ner, have you heard anything while you were at the castle?” Nerida’s face went grim. She got up and kneeled on the mattress and held the mirror closer to her face, “The less experienced mentors seemed panicked. They kept whispering to each other during the drills. Talking during drills, even by mentors, is strictly prohibited by normal protocol. They got scolded by the more experienced knights. I didn’t hear precisely what they were freaking out about, but it seemed like a big deal.” Radella started chewing on her lower lip, “Can you ask another trainee if they heard anything?” Nerida turned the mirror and slowly moved it around the room.  


It was a large room filled with identical beds that held sleeping teens. The room was completely dark except for the soft light coming from the mirror. Nerida turned the mirror back to her, “Everyone else is asleep and I don’t think anyone here likes me enough to tolerate getting woken up and asked a question. A lot of them think I’m annoying because I have to keep asking who they are.” Alvina unconsciously scowled at that. It’s been a consistent theme in their lives where Alvina was Nerida’s sole friend because all their peers couldn’t understand why she struggled with knowing who people are. “Right, in uniform they all probably look the same.” The trainee gave a sad smile, “Alvi, you don’t need to get so angry. I’m fine with our tiny circle. Anyways, I’ll keep an ear out for any other rumors.” Radella whimpered and withdrew into herself, “Are you gonna have to go to battle, Ner?” Nerida bit her lower lip and drew in a quick breath, “Uh, I’m not sure. Don’t worry about it, Della-bella, I doubt they’d put a novice like me on the battlefield. Look, I need to go. If a mentor comes by and sees me, I’ll get in trouble. Goodnight, guys.” “Night, Ner.” “Goodnight, Nerida.” The teen’s face blurred and vanished from the mirror. Alvina clutched her mirror tightly. Her mind raced trying to figure out what could possibly be going on. Is there going to be a battle? If there is, who is the kingdom fighting against? What did they do to provoke aggression? What would the enemy want? How would they win? Would they win at all? “...Alvi?” The teen blinked and noticed the fearful look on Radella’s face. “Yes, Della?” “What’s going on?” Alvina ran her hand through her hair, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out. It very well might be nothing. Now, it’s getting late. You should get to bed and don’t worry about all of this.” Radella hesitated, but nodded after wiping some tears off her cheeks, “Night, Alvi.” “Goodnight, sleep well.” The mirror stopped glowing and only Alvina’s face remained. She put the mirror away and flopped down on the bed on her back. She covered her face with her hands, “Maybe I shouldn’t have included Radella in that call. What on earth is going on?” The teen uncovered her face. She slipped under the covers with a sigh and fell into a fitful sleep.  


The mirror glowed, colors warping from a blob to a face, and it settled with the other two faces already present. “I’m so sorry! I tried to get on as soon as possible, but I have so many dress orders right now that I’ve been working late every day for the past month.” Corbin’s dark brown eyes darted down to the newcomer’s hands, “Elmira...don’t your hands hurt?” Elmira nodded with a confused look, “Yeah, why?” Mariam spoke with a tired and annoyed tone, “You’re still sewing something.” The asian woman paused, blinked a few times, before looking down. Sure enough, she was clutching a lace veil in her hands. Elmira giggled with a sheepish smile. Corbin and Mariam both smiled as they watched the dressmaker hurriedly shove the fabric away in a drawer. A soft cough drew the attention back to the caller. Loukya lowered her hand away from her face and gave a smile of her own, “Mira, it’s ok. I know how busy you’ve been. Thank you for agreeing to make Hunu’s dress and veil.” Elmira smiled back at her friend, “You’re welcome! I could still make you a dress too if you want~.” Mariam rolled her eyes at that, “Kya hasn’t worn anything even vaguely feminine since she was a kid. I doubt she’d start wearing a dress now.” Corbin’s face was scrunched up in an oddly childish look, “It’s so strange how you call our queen by her name without her title.” Elmira scrunched up her face in an even more childish way, “They’re getting married. It’d be weirder if she called her future wife by her title!” Loukya huffed a bit, “Thank you, Mira, but I already have an armorsmith making me special armor for the wedding. If you’re all done bickering then let’s get to the point of why I called you guys.” Everyone’s faces went grim at that. Corbin as always kept his face stoic, “What’s going on, Loukya. Mari already got some information out of a knight by threatening him, but I’m sure we’d all like more concrete answers.” The head knight recoiled at that, “Mariam!” The florist just stared blankly at her friend, “...what?” Corbin shook his head, “You should know better than to expect Mari to get information in a diplomatic manner.” Elmira’s sweet laugh echoed in the background as Loukya glared at Mariam. “You won’t be allowed to come to my wedding if you keep threatening my soldiers. How are they supposed to be confident enough to do their job if you’re scaring them?” Mariam shrugged, “Tell your soldiers to not be weak asses.” Loukya groaned and shoved her face into the palms of her hands.  


She kept that position for a few seconds before sliding her hands slowly down her face until she was cradling her chin with them. “Ignoring that, the recon spy came back this evening. It was revealed that the village burning was a threat. The current leader of the Wanyth Dynasty wants to take over that land and the Aiyelia Kingdom to expand into an empire. Hunu wants to try democracy first, but it’s unlikely that it’ll work. If we go into battle, it’ll be fought in our old home. I may need your help. Even if it isn’t actually fighting in battle, the soldiers need to be trained on how to fight in that particular region and we know it the best. Please, I know how difficult this is going to be, but I need my oldest friends by my side now more than ever.” Silence hung heavily in the air. Loukya looked desperately at her friends’ faces. Elmira was staring down at her lap with visible fear and tears in her eyes. Corbin had closed his eyes with a tiny grimace on his face. Mariam had looked away from the mirror and had a sneer on her face that was betrayed by the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Corbin opened his eyes and Loukya was caught off-guard by how aged he looked in that moment, “We have the worst luck, don’t we? It’s just one thing after another. Still...I would not have any others by my side through this except you all. I offer my assistance once again.” Loukya smiled tearfully, “Thank you so much Cory. For making the ceremonial blades and for this.” Corbin gave a tense, tired smile. Elmira lifted her head with a determined look, “I’ll help too. I may be the youngest, but I haven’t forgotten our old home.” Loukya bowed her head, “Thank you, Mira, you’ve been a wonderful help.” Not knowing what to expect, the knight looked at her fiercest friend. Mariam didn’t make any move to reject or accept. Loukya leaned forward and put a hand on her mirror, “Mari, I know that you’ve had it the worst out of all of us. I won’t force you into anything.” The florist’s face twisted and her eyes darted from the side to down. She shook her head slowly, “I...you know what, fuck it. Fuck everything, I’ll fucking do it. I’ve had your back for a long ass time and I’m not fucking stopping now.” Loukya blinked slowly and smiled, “Wow, that’s oddly sweet of you.” Corbin arched an eyebrow, “Did you really have to curse that much though?” “Eat my fucking ass, Cor-bitch!” Elmira laughed as Corbin smirked and Loukya sighed with a smile, “There’s the Mari we know. I’m lucky to have you guys at my side. I’ll end the call so we can all get some rest.” The chorus of goodnights faded as the faces vanished from the mirror as everyone finally went to bed. However, no one was able to sleep peacefully that night. Not with the knowledge or suspicion that a dangerous threat was looming overhead.


	4. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a good chunk of time to write. Please, please if you've read this far leave something in the comments. You don't need an account to comment and anon comments are on. I'd love to know what people think even if only a few people read my stuff.

Armored boots clanged against the ground as the group of knights and students marched to the front garden area where the carriage was slowly circling around to a stop in front of the large steps. Nerida clutched her shield tightly and stood stiffly by her mentor. This placed her at the head of the group and the princess’s personal shielder. Knight R placed his hand soothingly on her shoulder before stepping forward. They all bowed their heads as Knight R pulled open the carriage door. Emperor Hien stepped out first. Nerida peaked up at him from the slits in her helmet. His clothes appeared to be fairly simple, basic gold and black robes, until the sun shone on them perfectly. Small designs of dragons and flowers littered the fabric in a lighter gold. His short black hair was sticking up in odd ways as he and Knight R bowed to each other. Nerida watched the emperor turn around and offer his hand which was grasped by a feminine hand decorated with golden bracelets and rings. Empress Ndidi gracefully stepped out of the carriage with a decorative hat in her other arm. She smiled and held out the hat to her husband, “Dear, your hat.” Nerida had to hold back a giggle as a look of panic briefly flashed across the man’s face and he hurriedly put it on, “Thank you, darling. Go on ahead of me.” Nerida watched as Empress Ndidi slowly walked towards the marble steps. The empress had on a beautiful sleeveless white dress that clung to her body. It was decorated with golden embroidery that created a sun. She wore a golden band around her forehead with a blue jewel in the middle. Her tightly curled hair was in a high bun and also had jewels strewn through it. Empress Ndidi paused at the bottom of the staircase, “Oh, dear, don’t forget your tiara.” Nerida looked back to the carriage and watched a smaller hand grab the emperor’s hand, “I know, Mom.” Princess Ebele stepped out of the carriage with the help of her father.  
This time Nerida didn’t hide the fact that she was looking at the royal family. She knew that this was the princess she was assigned to protect so she needed to get as good of a look as she could. The teen needed to make a list of features to identify the princess so she could find her again. Princess Ebele had long, straight black hair that stuck up a bit around where her white tiara sat on her head. Her skin was fairly dark, not as dark as her mother’s, with no visible marks and her eyes were too similar to her father’s to be distinctive. Nerida pressed her lips together in frustration. This isn’t helpful. She looked down to the princess’s clothes. Her light purple dress was in the style of the emperor’s clothes, but seemed to be made out of the same fabric of the empress’s dress. It clung tightly to her body and had subtle silver embroidery that made tiny stars and moons. Nerida could use the clothes as a sign, but clothes changed. She needed something to remember that is unique to the princess. The teen stood straight up as Knight R walked towards her after closing the carriage door. The trainee followed her mentor as they walked closer to the royal family. Knight R approached Emperor Hien, “I am Knight R and I will be leading you to your temporary quarters. My apprentice here will be in charge of protecting and escorting your daughter wherever she may want to go.” Nerida bowed to the emperor and empress. Empress Ndidi smiled sweetly at her, “Does this apprentice of yours have a name?” Knight R gave a signal and Nerida stood up from her bow, “In our kingdom, knights and trainees are referred to by the first letter or letters of their name. My apprentice is called Knightling N.” Empress Ndidi laughed at that, “How cute. Well, lead the way.” Knight R bowed his head, “Very well. Knightling N, take up your position by the princess.” Nerida bowed her head and stood next to Princess Ebele with her shield positioned in front of her.  


They walked as a group through the palace. Only the emperor and empress were talking, little comments about the interior design and paintings, while they traveled towards the guest rooms. Princess Ebele looked around before leaning close to Nerida. It took a lot of effort to not lean away, “So, you’ll be my guard for the week?” The teen only nodded. The princess frowned a little, “Are you allowed to talk?” Nerida shook her head. That caused the princess to sigh. She looked around before gaining a mischievous smile, “Can you talk if I order you to?” Nerida froze at that. She wasn’t sure if that was allowed so she settled for a shrug. Princess Ebele hummed at that, “Let’s talk later in my room.” They finished the walk in silence. Knight R paused by a large painted door, “This is where the princess will stay. Knightling N, please assist her in unpacking her belongings.” Nerida bowed to her mentor before ushering Princess Ebele inside. She closed the door behind her and stood stiffly in front of it to watch her temporary liege bounce around the large room. Princess Ebele bounced and laid down on the bed with her legs hanging off of the side. This knocked the tiara off her head onto the comforter. She swung her legs back and forth, “So, now that we’re alone, can you talk or take your helmet off?” Nerida tilted her head to the side, staring at the royal through the slits, and stayed where she was. Princess Ebele sat up with a small frown, “Please talk to me about something, anything.” Nerida kept her position, “...I’m terrible with faces.” The princess furrowed her eyebrows at that, “What do you mean?” Nerida looked away from the almost black eyes, “I can’t tell who a person is by their face alone. I know if I’ve met the person or not, but I can’t pinpoint precisely who they are. I used traits that I know that person has to identify them. For example, one of my friends and her father are the tallest people in Frostford. So, that’s the first thing I look for if I want to find them.” Princess Ebele leaned against the bed frame, “Why are you telling me this and why does your voice sound so strange?” Nerida turned her head back towards her liege, “There’s an enchantment on my helmet that changes my voice to make it more difficult for enemies to profile us. If they can’t pick us out then they can’t learn much about us. As for my statement, I find that things work out more smoothly if I explain why I can’t identify a person right away. That and I need to find something unique about you to be able to identify you faster.” Princess Ebele looked down in thought before looking back up, “I know one thing you could use.” Her lips curled up to reveal two sharp canines that reminded Nerida of the vampire illustrations in Alvina’s favorite book.  


Nerida’s breath caught in her throat and she was so grateful for her helmet as it masked the confused look she gained, “That can work…as long as you remember to flash your teeth at me every time you see me.” Princess Ebele got out of the bed and walked up to Nerida which showed that the princess was slightly taller than the trainee. She smiled and Nerida immediately took note of the dimples that appeared with her smile, “Shall we get to unpacking my luggage now that this is settled?” Nerida bowed her head but was startled when her arm was suddenly grabbed and she was pulled over to a large purple case. Her other arm twitched as she fought down the impulse to hit the princess she gained from combat training. They kneeled together on the floor and the princess opened the case, “You need to be more careful. I’ve almost struck you twice now. Even the knightlings are trained in combat despite mostly knowing shielding techniques.” Princess Ebele paused with a piece of bright white fabric clutched in her hand, “Oh, I’m sorry. My family has never been shy of being physical. Uh,” The teen twisted the fabric in her hands, “What are your parents like?” Nerida put away the folded clothes handed to her in a cabinet, “I only have one parent. My mother is Frostford’s florist. Speaking of my mother, I still have to help with the bouquets for the wedding, so either you’ll have a new guard or you’ll be coming with me into town tonight, princess.” It didn’t escape the teen’s attention how the princess deflated a bit at her title. Princess Ebele fiddled with her silver bracelet that had been hidden by the fabric of her sleeve, but continued to empty her luggage, “I, would it be possible for me to go in civilian clothing?” Nerida watched carefully through the slits of her helmet, “Don’t enjoy being the center of attention?” The princess started to play with the nail of her thumb, “That and people act so strange around me when they know I’m royalty. They never treat me like a person but like an animal that could hurt them at any moment.” Nerida tried not to wince at the obvious pain laced in the other’s voice.  


Silence weighed down the air in the too large room. Only small clinks from Nerida’s armor made any noise as they wrapped up unpacking the case. The trainee closed the case, but the pair stayed kneeling on the ground. “I could get you a disguise to wear to town. Nobody’s seen you yet so they shouldn’t know what you look like.” Princess Ebele smiled at that and finally relaxed, “Thank you so much. One more thing, just call me Ebele.” Nerida froze, her face suddenly hot in her helmet, as Ebele embraced her tightly. Dumbfounded, the knightling slowly lifted her hands up to embrace the princess in return. Ebele leaned heavily against Nerida, “Can you tell me more about your problem with faces?” The armored teen lightly pushed away the other teen, “Wait, you want to know more?” Ebele brushed some of her hair out of her face with a nod, “I want to be as helpful as I can be and know as much as I can.” Nerida looked up towards the high ceiling and crossed her arms, “Uh, it’s not a sight problem. I can physically see the parts of your face, but arranging them into one big thing and remembering that combined image is where things go wrong. I end up depending on other traits or signs to identify or relate to others. It makes things kinda difficult.” Ebele had been listening silently so her interjection startled Nerida, “Do you find anyone attractive?” That was an odd but unfortunately common question, “Yeah, I do. I don’t have any problems maintaining a relationship. It’s finding the people willing to put up with my condition that’s the hard part.” Ebele’s face fell at that. Nerida noticed a change in her body language but pressed on, “It’s easy to mistake people for someone else if I’m not careful enough and many people find that annoying. My teammates especially hate being around me. They think I’ll confuse them for an enemy even though I never would. Our kingdom’s armor is too unique, but not unique enough to tell the difference between individual people. The voice enchantments on our helmets don’t help. It doesn’t really bug me anymore. My mom has the same thing so I always had someone to fall back on.” The princess reached out and held the other girl’s hand, “Well, I feel safe around you.” Nerida snorted a bit but didn’t move to pull her hand away. She could feel the warmth of Ebele’s hand just barely seep through the metal on her hand. “You must if you spoke so freely to me.” Ebele giggled and squeezed the hand she held, “You spoke just as freely as me. It’s nice to have someone to talk to without having to worry about anything bad happening to you.” The knightling stayed silent at that. She tugged her hand out of the princess’s grasp before standing up, “Let’s find some less regal clothes for you to wear into town.” Nerida was a little too quick to reach out to help Ebele stand as well. She wanted to feel that warmth around her hand again. As much as Nerida loved Alvina, the older teen wasn’t fond of a lot of physical affection unless she initiated it. The knightling felt relief when her liege accepted her hand without question. It was nice to have someone actually being friendly for once.  


Queen Hunu practically clung to her cousin when Empress Ndidi came into the throne room. Emperor Hien hung back to converse quietly with Knight L about recent events. The queen stepped back gripping her cousin’s arms tightly, “I’m so happy that you’re here. We’ve been caught in a rather perilous position.” Empress Ndidi frowned and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What happened? Your invitation didn’t seem distressed at all.” “It appears that the Wanyth Dynasty is causing trouble again.” The pair looked over at Emperor Hien and Knight L walking away from the wall they were previously standing next to. Emperor Hien had an unreadable expression on his face but his voice had betrayed some anger. Knight L seemed to be resigned to silence. Queen Hunu nodded at Emperor Hien’s words yet kept her eyes on her knight, “Love, are you not going to speak? You will have the same status as us in a few days.” Knight L shook her head. Empress Ndidi gazed at the knight with a kind smile before turning to her husband, “What kind of trouble?” Queen Hunu took her fiance’s hand into hers and squeezed it, “They burned an abandoned village down in the old territory of the Liphaca Dynasty. My spy confirmed the fact that this was an intentional threat of war. A diplomatic meeting has been arranged for tomorrow.” Empress Ndidi scowled, “You’re going to attempt diplomacy?!” Queen Hunu lifted her hand with a tired look on her face, “Di, I can’t afford to be aggressive immediately. I know it’s not your style, but I don’t have the forces or resources you do to fight for long. We both know how long conflicts involving the Wanyths last. I’d like to at least try to have my wedding during a peaceful time.” The scowl on the empress’s face melted into concern. She exchanged a brief look with her husband, “Well, you do have a point. Don’t be afraid of coming to us if things don’t go well. We’ll have your back if the Wanyth brothers decide diplomacy isn’t for them.” Queen Hunu nodded numbly, leaning into her knight's side, and allowed herself to be led away. Knight L mumbled soft reassurances to her queen before raising her altered voice, “I’m taking the queen to her chambers. If you want more information on the situation then see Nele. She’s our war strategist.” Emperor Hien’s voice was clear and steady, “We will.” Empress Ndidi stared sadly after her cousin, “Dear, do you think you’ll be able to push back the possibility of an attack by at least a few days with words alone? They deserve to have their wedding in peace.” Emperor Hien bumped his head against his wife’s, “...I can try, but this isn’t our kingdom or our conflict to handle. I don’t know how kindly Hunu will take to me butting in. For now, let’s leave her be.” Empress Ndidi sighed heavily but allowed her husband to gently nudge her out of the throne room.  


Slow, light footsteps smacked against the ground to approach a man staring down into a room full of arguing men. “You’re always around these men, Abdima.” Abdima gave a leisurely shrug, “They’re entertaining to mess with. I doubt you’d understand, Saffi. You were never into the same things as other gods.” Saffi gazed down at the group as verbal fighting escalated into physical. She raised a sharp eyebrow, “You are correct. I don’t see how you could enjoy watching this.” The goddess's gaze turned firm as she turned to look at the god’s current disguise. Her glare only made the god smile wider, “You’re partially to blame for that village burning and you plan on causing a full blown war between two kingdoms. Malviola isn’t going to be happy with you.” Abdima chuckled, “Since when is that little bitch ever happy with me.” Saffi shook her head with a sigh, “You should at least try to be civil.” The god cackled loudly. It seemingly went unnoticed by the fighters below. “That’s rich coming from you. You’re not exactly popular either.” Saffi closed her eyes as Abdima continued to laugh, “I said be civil. I never said be falsely friendly.” Silence fell between the deities as they watched the fight continue to escalate until blood could be seen. Once someone was injured, suddenly no one was willing to fight anymore. Abdmia grunted unhappily as he watched the injured man get pick up off the floor and led away indoors to get patched up. He turned his heated gaze to the goddess, “You just had to ruin my fun.” Saffi didn’t need to look at the god to know how angered his eyes were. She stared down at the now empty area, “I don’t see how watching mortals die is fun.” Tension thickened the air. Thunder rumbled in the distance, “That old fart needs to fuck off and stay out of this.” Abdima’s disguise began to warp in his anger. Icy rain fell harshly from the sky. Steam rose from where raindrops hit Abdima’s flesh. Droplets clung to the metal armor that Saffi wore. Ice blue eyes gazed coldly into reddish brown ones. “I’m warning you, Abdima. If you insist on leading these men to war, I will stand against you. I will not allow you to destroy the Aiyelia Kingdom.” Abdima smirked as he allowed his disguise to vanish completely. Saffu narrowed her eyes yet didn’t waver at the sight of large hawk wings extending out from behind the god’s back. His voice had gained a strange echo to it. “No help for the poor souls of the Wanyth Dynasty?” Saffi’s grip on her sword tightened, “I know how your powers work. You can’t influence people who have no violent intentions. With how easily you’ve been influencing these men, I doubt that they are even trying to fight against your control.” Abdima gave a low chuckle, smoke rising from his body, and the dark clouds began to obscure his body. Glowing red eyes pierced through the dark fog, “Remember Saffi, I’m not controlling these men. I’m simply encouraging what is already there.”  


The goddess eased her grip on her sword handle. Abdima had vanished in the smokescreen. Saffi turned and began to walk towards the burned down remains of the village. Ashes clung to the air stubbornly. Two smaller figures stood in the remains. They turned around at the sound of charred wood crunching underfoot. A woman with a decorated fan spoke first, “Did you speak to him?” Saffi nodded and gripped her sword handle again, “I did. It seems that he’s going through with his plans.” A young girl with blue jay wings didn’t look up even as she spoke, “Saffi...what are we going to do?” Saffi gazed at the two with a firm expression, “I will be guiding the Aiyelia army through the battles myself. Kana, I suggest that you bless the soon-to-be-married couple. This is a rough trial for even the most loving relationships.” Kana fanned herself with a small sad smile, “I normally would like a rose or a gemstone, but I suppose I’ll do this for free. That queen actually cleans my shrines herself.” The love goddess vanished in a rush of petals and left behind a single patch of green in the barren land. Saffi waved the petals away from her face. She then turned her gaze to the young-looking deity. “Malviola, how extensive can your blessing be?” Malviola looked up at the tall goddess through her matted bangs, “...it depends on the ruler.” Saffi bent down on one knee so the shorter goddess didn’t need to look up, “Then I ask you to observe Queen Hunu and make your judgment. I believe her to be worthy of our assistance, but I cannot force you to do anything.” Malviola averted her gaze as Saffi stood up. She didn’t bother watching as the knowledge goddess left by simply walking into the fog of ashes. Her wings opened slowly, the ashes irritating her open wounds, and she took off flying through the polluted air. The goddess flew quickly through the air undetected by the mortals walking below her. She glanced down in time to spot a knight-in-training and a peasant girl walking down the street towards a house with a large flower sign. Malviola narrowed her eyes as she got an odd feeling in her stomach. The goddess looked away with a grimace knowing what that meant. They had to wait though. She looked away and flew into the castle.  


Ebele gazed at the back of her guard leading her through the village. The clothes she’d been given were incredibly simple. An ankle-length wool dress that was a nice shade of crimson and leather shoes. It was much warmer than her usual clothing. “It’s surprisingly chilly here even though it’s summer.” She watched Knightling N nod, “Frostford is known for having unusually cold weather hence its name. No one is sure why, but the legend is that the reigning family are masters of ice and snow magic and their magic is so powerful the entire kingdom is cooled by it.” Ebele oohed and looked around the village as they walked through. It was so much smaller than the princess’s home village. The other villagers seemed too preoccupied to take note of the two teens as they approached a modest-looking house. The royal took in the sign that was engraved with The Wolf Florist. Some confusion twisted onto the princess’s face, “What a strange name for a florist.” Knightling N paused in front of the door, “It’s another tradition. All business owners have some form of animal on their sign.” Ebele smiled lightly which turned into a look of shock when her guard was smacked in the head with some cut stems after opening the door. The princess stared with wide eyes as Knightling N simply picked the projectile out of their helmet. A short, dirty blonde woman was standing in the doorway with a scowl on her face. ‘She’s pretty but scary.’ Ebele pressed her lips together tightly. The woman, who Ebele assumed was the florist, had oddly tan skin for the weather with sharp green eyes and her wavy hair in a messy bun. “Who the hell are you two?!” The florist’s voice was low and clearly angry. Ebele couldn’t help but shrink into herself. It came as a shock when her guard simply sighed, “It’s me, Ma, your daughter. I’m just in uniform.” Ebele made a mental note that Knightling N is a girl and was slightly confused at the feeling of relief she got from that. She was broken out of her thoughts by the strange sound of her guard’s disguised voice, “Mama, this is my new friend Ebele. Ebele, this is my mother Mariam.” Mariam relaxed and extended her hand, “It’s nice to meet you. Now, get inside and you need to take off that ridiculous helmet.” The princess watched her guard recoil at that, “Mama, technically I’m working right now. I can’t just take it off.” “You can’t help properly with that thing over your face!” “I’m not supposed to reveal my identity to anyone I meet while working!” “We need to deliver all these bouquets. You’ll have to take off your armor anyways. Besides, you should show your little girlfriend your real face.” “She’s not my girlfriend!” “I thought you liked girls.” “I do, but that’s not the point!” Ebele giggled a little at the exchange as they were ushered inside. The princess looked around the room. There were tables covered in finished bouquets of varying sizes that gave off pleasant smells. She hovered near a table with no idea what to do or what she’d be allowed to touch.  


Ebele jolted when she heard a wordless, angry scream. She turned around to see Mariam holding a helmet in her hands and her guard glaring with both having matching scowls. The princess felt her face heat up a bit. Knightling N looked similar to her mother. Her hair was a bit longer and a lighter blonde that was tied back in a ponytail instead of a bun. Equally tan skin had freckles littered all over it and green eyes were just as sharp except they were surrounded by longer eyelashes. ‘She’s beautiful.’ Ebele blinked slowly as Mariam handed the helmet back, “Your friend has now seen you without your helmet. So stop fussing and get changed.” The florist watched her daughter sulk away to her room. Mariam then turned to look at her surprise guest. Ebele twitched a little as she was closely inspected. She only relaxed when the woman retreated and walked away to begin packing bouquets into enchanted boxes. “Well, don’t just stand there like a rock. Come help me put the orders into the transporter.” Mariam’s voice was strict enough that it made the teen almost run to the table. Ebele’s hand hovered over an arrangement, looking around nervously, before turning to look at the florist, “Ma’am, is there anything special I need to do?” Mariam didn’t look the teen’s way as she kept a quick, steady pace of putting orders into the boxes, “The only thing is you need to grab them by the stem bundle and not the flowers themselves. The boxes I have are enchanted to put them in a certain position automatically.” A tense silence fell over the pair as they worked quickly. Ebele didn’t remember a time where she felt so stressed and uncomfortable from being next to a person that she was taller than. She chewed her lip while trying to not allow her hands to tremble. Her mind raced trying to come up with something to talk about. The princess didn’t notice that the adult by her side had glanced over to her shaking hands. Ebele was taken aback when a warm hand cupped over hers. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I wasn’t trying to. Tell me a little bit about yourself.” Mariam let go of Ebele’s hand and they continued packing up. The teen relaxed a bit, “Um, I am from the Nizia Empire. I really like gardening and baking with my mother. I like going fishing with my father. Uhh, I sing, dance, and practice air magic.” Mariam sealed the filled boxes before swapping them out for new ones, “Oh really? You must have a good amount of time on your hands. Most folks don’t have the time to practice magic even if they have the resources to. What kinds of things do you and your mother bake?” Ebele smiled at how kind Mariam’s voice had become, “We bake cakes, bread, and all sorts of pastries. What we make depends on what ingredients we have at home.” Mariam nodded which caused some strands of hair to fall out of the bun, “Why did your family come to Frostford and how come my daughter is guarding you?” Panic made Ebele’s mind go blank. The teen did not want to talk about her nobility status at all. So she just said the first thing that came to mind, “We came because my mother is baking the wedding cake and she wanted me to help. Queen Hunu is letting us stay in the castle. I got your daughter as my guide.” Mariam thankfully seemed convinced.  


“They’re sparing no expense for this whole thing. Well, you’re welcome to come and hang around here. We’ll show you around the city after making the deliveries.” Ebele nodded with a smile as a comfortable silence fell. Only the soft hiss of the boxes closing could be heard as the pair got through one table of arrangements. Footsteps drew Ebele’s attention away to the hallway. Her face became hot again at the sight she was greeted with. Knightling N walked into the room while redoing her ponytail. She had swapped her armor for a light gray wool shirt and brown pants with black leather shoes. The thing that really caught Ebele’s eye was a soft-pink knitted scarf wrapped around her guard’s neck. Knightling N finished tightening her ponytail, “Since you know what I look like, I might as well tell you my name. I’m Nerida, but make sure you call me Knightling N back at the castle. I’m technically breaking the rules right now.” Ebele tried to hide her giggle by putting her hand over her mouth. She lowered it after the urge had passed, “That’s a pretty name. You don’t look anything like I expected.” Nerida smiled at her as she got right to work on Ebele’s other side, “Were you expecting a guy?” The princess shook her head, “No, I know that female knights are common in this kingdom. What I wasn’t expecting was someone with such tan skin and light hair. I was expecting pale skin and dark hair.” Mariam snorted with a roll of her eyes, “She was expecting Corin and his daughter.” Nerida nodded with a chuckle, “Corin’s daughter, Alvina, is like my best friend. You’ll probably get to see them before the wedding. I’m just warning you now, they’re both super tall.” Ebele couldn’t help her tone from becoming teasing, “Are they super tall or are you just short?” Nerida puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Mariam shook her head, “No, they are tall. Corin towers over literally everyone around here and Alvina is the tallest woman in the village.” Ebele’s mouth fell wide open, “Wow...uh, what do they do?” Mariam had paused to count the remaining bouquets and her voice was mildly distracted, “Corin is a professional blademaker and his daughter is his apprentice. Another kid you might see around is Radella. She’s a sweet girl. I know that her mother Elmira is a dressmaker. Ner, has Della picked a profession yet?” Nerida took her hair out of the ponytail, “Della-bella is learning to be a healer. We watch the kiddo sometimes if Alvs’ folks are too busy. Do you have a mentor?” “What?” Ebele blinked rapidly as she pulled herself out of a dazed stare. She had gotten distracted by how beautiful Nerida looks with her hair down. Her face grew red as Nerida stared at her with a confused look and Mariam chuckled. Nerida brushed her hair over her shoulder, “I asked if you have a mentor.” “O-oh, I do.” Before any further pressing could be done, Mariam loudly closed the last box, “We’re done kids. Let’s get some of the boxes and Ebele back to the castle.” “I need to get my armor back on!” Mariam and Ebele laughed as Nerida flailed a bit while rushing off to her room. The trip back to the castle consisted mostly of Mariam and Ebele talking and trying to pull Nerida into breaking more rules by talking. The princess went to bed that night feeling happier than she had when she first arrived in Frostford.


	5. Blessings and Curses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a long time to write, so I tried to make it longer in length.

Queen Hunu felt a twinge of remorse at how crestfallen her staff looked. The Wanyth representatives were rarely kind to anyone and it left those who did interact with them drained. She carefully kept the displeasure off her face as she watched Perceval Wanyth spill the complementary wine onto the skirt of one of her maids. The maid had a defeated look on her face, taking the glass without a sound, and walked out of the conference room. Queen Hunu sat on one side of the large table with Nele on her right and Knight L on her left. Aadila sat at a smaller table in the corner with paper and pen ready to take notes. Perceval Wanyth sat on the other side with his younger brother Favian on his right and his adviser Mosse on his left. The queen inhaled a calming breath, “Emperor Perceval, it’s come to my attention that an abandoned village in neutral land between our kingdoms was burned. Were you aware that this had taken place?” Emperor Perceval nodded with a smile, “Indeed, I did know. I gave the order for that village to be burned.” Nele jumped in, “What was your intention?” The queen silently noted how panicked Mosse looked and the scowl that appeared on Favian Wanyth’s face. The emperor continued to smile, “Simply speaking, I want that land, Hunu. Are you gonna give it to me or am I gonna have to take it?” Queen Hunu pressed her lips together as Knight L spoke up, “It’s Queen Hunu. She’s not your wife, Perceval.” The queen darted her hand under the table to squeeze her knight’s leg in a silent plea to behave. This was part of the game. The oldest Wanyth was well-known for causing unneeded conflicts by being as inflammatory as possible. Knight L’s comment didn’t phase the emperor who roamed his eyes over the queen, “That’s not a bad idea. Why don’t you ditch the moron in armor and marry me instead? That’d take care of this issue.” Prince Favian snickered while Mosse looked as though he was ready to keel over. The head knight trembled in anger but stayed seated by the presence of her fiance’s hand on her leg. Queen Hunu kept her expression even, “I have already rejected all your original proposals. I haven’t accepted one yet and don’t plan to in the future. This leads us back to your unanswered question. That land is under reconstruction by my kingdom to become inhabitable again. These upgrades haven’t been finished yet.” Nele jumped in while not bothering to hide her own disgust as she loomed over the table, “You can’t have that land. Not now or ever. We aren’t giving it to you and you certainly aren’t taking it!” Prince Favian stood up and leaned in close to Nele’s face, “What makes you so certain about that, you wench?” Queen Hunu and Emperor Perceval forced the two to sit down. The queen only gave her councilwoman a strict look while Emperor Perceval tsked at his brother, “Now, now, let me handle this.” Queen Hunu kept her face flat even as the emperor leaned over the table and got in her face.

  


Emperor Perceval’s smile went from condescending to sinister, “I will have that land and I’ll take you right along with it if I have to. Perhaps as my wife or as a new member of my harem. Regardless, we can end things right here with you just handing over that land or we can battle and see who comes out the victor. So, what will it be, sweetheart? The diplomatic route or the battle route?” The air in the room began to feel colder. Mosse shrunk into himself in terror. Prince Favian reared back in his seat in surprise. Emperor Perceval’s smirk fell and his eyes widened. Queen Hunu sat stiffly in her seat with a narrowed, angry gaze as frost spread out directly behind her. Snow fell from the ceiling, ice covered the queen’s half of the table, and her breath was visible in the air, “You have been cruel to my staff, disrespected my fiance, burned down a village that I was going to repair, and continuously made advances towards me despite my lack of interest. Mercy would be wasted on a scoundrel like you. The next time we meet, I am going to show you exactly why Frostford has its name.” No one dared to move as Queen Hunu stood and walked out of the room with Knight L trailing behind her. Footprints made of frost covered the floor as the monarch marched to the throne room where Empress Ndidi and Emperor Hien were waiting. Ice covered the doors as the queen shoved them open and stormed to sit in her throne. Nele carefully shut the doors after giving the staff quiet instructions on how to clean up the frost and ice. Empress Ndidi approached her cousin cautiously, “I assume it didn’t go well.” Queen Hunu shut her eyes and tried to reign in her magic, “No, it didn’t go well at all. We’re going to war.” Emperor Hien shared a look with his wife before looking back to his in-law, “We’ll send for troops immediately. You may not have the resources to fight for long, but we do. Let us help you with this.” Tension hung in the air as the emperor and empress waited for an answer. The couple watched Nele and Knight L both begin speaking to the queen in defense of their positions. Nele’s face was twisted in a scowl, “My queen, we should accept their assistance. The Wanyth army are relentless fighters. We need more forces to assist with any plans we come up with.” Knight L reached out a hand towards the royal, “Queen Hunu, we cannot accept their assistance. This is our kingdom’s battle. Think about the political implications this could have.” Empress Ndidi watched sadly as her cousin just shut her eyes tiredly while the two warriors kept arguing about the issue. Queen Hunu stood up and the room went silent, “We will accept extra foot soldiers, but no one else. I will have a special troop to defeat Emperor Perceval consisting of only my subjects. I am not so foolish as to not accept any help however Knight L is correct. This is a war between our two kingdoms alone. The Aiyelia Kingdom needs to prove that it can defend itself. Now, I’m going to go pray. Knight L?” The knight looked down but handed over the sword silently. The queen held the sword carefully as she walked slowly out of the room. Emperor Hien walked over to Nele, “Let’s discuss possible strategies. I’ve battled those horrid people before.” They all looked at each other anxiously before heading towards a room with a table so they could sit down together.

  


Despite the long room being perfect for echos to reverberate through, a light silence still prevailed. Statues, alters, and little plaques lined both walls of the room. A sense of peace came over the queen. She always felt an odd sense of comfort here. Whenever she felt upset as a kid she would come here. The queen smiled sadly, many memories of rushing past the shrines running through her mind, and chuckled a bit at one particular memory. Hunu, only 12 or 13 at the time, had come with a winter honeysuckle flower that she plucked off a bush in the gardens to offer the goddess of love in the hope that she would make Loukya fall in love with her. It seems so silly now. Yet, it helped cement the royal’s faith that the gods and goddesses did exist. Queen Hunu kneeled down in front of one of the smaller altars. A gold plaque attached to the bottom read Malviola in engraved curled letters. The altar was fairly simplistic with only a pair of wings engraved into the front and a stone slab sticking out in front to place offerings down. The woman bowed and put her forehead against the shrine. She allowed tears to fall down her cheeks and onto the cold stone. Frost covered her hands. Queen Hunu waited until they had gone numb before taking the sword and slicing open her palm. She allowed her blood to drip onto the weapon before covering the wound in a new layer of frost. Metal shone brightly against the stone. Her voice echoed even though she was whispering softly, “Malviola, hear my pleas, as I sit here on my knees. I beg you to bless her weapon and her soul. Leave me to perish on the field, but protect her as your goal. With my blood, please protect my love.” The queen lingered in front of the altar despite being finished with her prayer. She stared sadly at the stone, “...I’m so sorry. I try to avoid conflict, but this can’t be ignored. I just hope you understand my reasons for it.” Queen Hunu stood up and moved on to another shrine. This one was still simple yet much larger with an engraving of a dog holding a sword in its mouth. The queen stood in front of the altar before using a dagger to cut a strand of her hair. There is no myth about a “proper” ritual to do to earn Saffi’s favor, so she just did what she remembered her mother did at a time like this. She put the lock of hair down on the altar, “Goddess Saffi, please lend me your wisdom. I need your assistance in this. Lead me in battle and help me end things quickly.” Queen Hunu drifted off to one of the most ornate shrines the castle has. Bright feathers, roses, and gems glittered on the large stone slab. She placed a rose and a pearl down with a soft frown. All the rituals for Kana are incredibly casual and chanting didn’t seem to affect one’s chances of being blessed, “Goddess Kana, I beg you to help preserve my relationship through this trying time. I am not sure if we’ll go through with the wedding with such a threat hanging over us. I suppose we will see.” The woman smoothed out the skirt of her dress and started her way back out. She was already too far out the door to notice the shift in the air as figures appeared near the shrines.

  


Three animals stood next to the offerings. A blue jay jumped over to look down at the bloody sword. A pink feathered peacock gazed at the rose and small white pearl. A large dog sniffed the lock of hair left behind. The animals shifted into three women. Kana smiled as she delicately picked up the flower and gem, “Oh, honey, I’ve already blessed your relationship. I suppose I could accept this as a late payment. I promise, your wedding will happen without a problem.” The beautiful goddess stuck the rose behind her ear before attaching the pearl to her bracelet. Saffi picked up the hair then clenched it in her hand which made it vanish, “I will assist you in ending this war as quickly as possible.” Saffi and Kana looked at Malviola as the young-looking goddess stared down at the sword. Her matted hair shielded her face from view, “...what an odd prayer.” Kana frowned at that, “What do you mean?” Saffi put her hand on Kana’s shoulder, “Normally, the ritual for blessing a weapon is for that person’s own weapon. Queen Hunu never once mentioned herself and that sword isn’t hers.” Malviola picked up the sword, “It belongs to the knight she prayed to Kana about.” Kana blinked slowly, “What are you going to do?” The petite goddess tightened her grip on the bloodstained sword. She didn’t say anything and simply wiped the blade clean of blood. Saffi closed her eyes, “I see. I’m going to take my leave now.” The wisdom goddess turned around and walked straight through a wall. Kana arched her eyebrow as Malviola put the sword back, shifted into a blue jay, and flew out of a window. The goddess of love regained a soft smile as she gazed at the sword, “You blessed it after all, how sweet of you, Malviola.” Kana jumped a bit and quickly hid inside her shrine when she heard the door creak open. She watched as a teen carefully opened the door and walked through the room. The teen was dressed in a simple silver nightgown. Kana noted that the teen must be some form of royalty with clothes like that. The goddess smiled a bit when the royal stopped in front of her shrine with an anxious look on her face, “Um, hello, Ms. Kana? My name is Princess Ebele. I’m not from this kingdom and I haven’t had to pray to you before, so I’m not sure what to do. Ah, Nerida told me that you really like flowers and gemstones.” Kana watched the princess look down at her hands which held a winter honeysuckle and a small piece of emerald. Princess Ebele nervously kneeled, placing the offerings down, and wrung her hands together with a blush on her face. “So, I, uh, got these for you. If it’s not too much to ask, could you help me get Nerida to like-like me? Please?” Kana chuckled a bit. Teen crushes were always so cute. The goddess caused the emerald to glow and made Princess Ebele smile, “Thank you so much, ma’am.” The princess giggled and happily skipped out of the room. Kana stepped out of the altar, trying to keep down laughter, as she picked up the “offerings”. She examined the flower with an amused grin, “Some things never change.” The goddess of love vanished in a whirlwind of petals that remained on the floor. A red cardinal appeared in her place. It took off out the window, around the castle towers, and settled on a window sill that looked into the guest room of a certain princess.

  


The room was a total mess. Shattered glass, broken porcelain, and torn tapestries littered the floor as the maker of the disaster site paced back and forth. Dark, reddish brown eyes followed in time with the pacing before a smooth voice made the figure pause, “You’ve broken quite a few valuables, Emperor Perceval.” The emperor huffed, looking around with narrowed eyes, “I, I suppose I have. The meeting took an unexpected turn, Gregory.” ‘Gregory’ gave a false frown, “What happened?” Emperor Perceval picked up a piece of torn fabric, twisting it in his hand, with an angry scowl, “That damn legend about Frostford is true. Queen Hunu knows ice magic and she nearly froze the entire fucking room out of anger. This is bad. I don’t have any fucking magic talent. Then, that bitch even had the gall to threaten me. Me! I’m a fucking emperor, not a child!” Brown eyes shifted to red in time with the rise of the emperor’s temper. ‘Gregory’ shook his head, “That wrench had no right to disrespect you. Don’t worry, my dear emperor, you may lack magical abilities now...but that can change.” The emperor paused at that. He narrowed his eyes at his mysterious ally, “What are you talking about?” ‘Gregory’ walked slowly towards the agitated leader as he pulled an amulet seemingly out of nowhere, “This amulet will allow you to use fire magic. I could lend it to you. It will allow you to defeat Queen Hunu with ease.” The red gem shone in the dying sunlight that highlighted the inscriptions written into the iron that surrounded the jewel. Emperor Perceval stared at the amulet before lunging for it, “Give it to me!” The emperor was stopped by a rough hand on the chest, “One moment, your highness. As a magic-null person you cannot touch this amulet without burning yourself. Please, allow me.” ‘Gregory’ watched as the man turned his back to him. His shadow morphed to have large wings and glowing red eyes that went unnoticed now that the emperor had turned around. Emperor Perceval closed his eyes and could feel the weight of the amulet on the back of his neck. ‘Gregory’ stood back with a smirk. Tendrils of shadow seeped from under his clothing. Brown eyes were consumed by red, “That amulet looks incredible on you, my emperor.” Emperor Perceval reopened his eyes which were now stained with red instead of their previous green. Abdima finally had full control of his latest puppet’s emotions. ‘Gregory’ put a hand on the emperor’s shoulder, “You should head off to bed soon, sir. Strategy can wait until the morning.” Emperor Perceval nodded and wordlessly left for his bedchambers. Shadows raced up the man’s legs and covered his whole body. A sickening smile accompanied a low chuckle, “This will be so much fun.” Abdima melted into the shadows with ease. He darted from one shadow to another and followed his puppet to his room.

  


Ebele hugged one of the pillows tightly to her chest. She watched curiously as Knightling N tapped at the glass of a hand mirror, “What is that?” The knightling paused and turned to look over her shoulder, “It’s a communication mirror. Do they not have them in your kingdom?” Ebele shook her head, “No, we use magic blue stones instead. I think it has something to do with the tradition that only royalty can use mirrors. Glass isn’t common where I’m from.” Knightling N looked back at the mirror and went back to tapping at it, “Huh, that makes sense.” The princess shifted closer to the other teen sitting on the bed, “Who are you calling?” Knightling N took off her helmet, set it down on the floor, and didn’t notice how the princess had immediately started to stare, “I’m calling my friends. I heard a few things while you went to pray and Alvs will want to know.” The princess shifted in her spot, unsure of what to do, before Nerida smiled and patted the spot next to her. Ebele got a warm feeling in her chest from how pretty Nerida’s smile was, “Come sit next to me, LeLe.” Ebele scootched over and happily pressed her side against her new friend before leaning away a bit, “Do you mind me being so close to you?” Nerida brushed aside a piece of her bangs as the mirror showed a dark purple cloud, “Not at all. I said to come over here so it wasn’t unexpected. Thanks for asking first though.” Ebele leaned back against Nerida with a small blush on her face. The teen pressed back, “I actually really like hugging and junk, but Alvs isn’t big on it. Speaking of Alvs, here she is. Hi!” Ebele looked away from Nerida and to the mirror. It showed the faces of two girls. The younger girl looked similar to her father although her skin was a bit lighter and there was a noticeable heart-shaped birthmark on her face. The older girl was rather pale with serious dark brown eyes and wavy black hair that spilled out over her shoulders. A scowl twisted the older girl’s features, “Who is that? Why do you have your helmet off in the castle? I better not hear that you got in trouble.” Nerida laughed and pulled Ebele back towards her as her new friend had shrunk away in fright, “Sweet as always, Alvs. This is Ebele. She’s the daughter of...a baker, right? The baker making the wedding cake?” The teen nodded mutely. She immediately felt grateful and squeezed Nerida’s hand that was still holding her arm. ‘Alvs’ arched her sharp eyebrow, “Not very talkative, huh?” Nerida rolled her eyes, “Or maybe it’s your dazzling charm. How about you actually introduce yourselves.” Ebele clung a bit tighter as ‘Alvs’ scoffed and rolled her eyes while muttering out a cold “Alvina”. The younger girl smiled sweetly, “My name is Radella. It’s nice to meet you. How come you’re staying in the castle?” The teen loosened up and smiled back, “My family is from Nizia. Delivering a cake from that far away without any damage or rot is a bit challenging.” Radella’s eyes lit up, “Oh! You have to tell me about Nizia. I’ve read so much about it. Is it true that healing magic originated there?” Ebele relaxed fully, “I can’t confirm it, but the oldest written recordings of healing magic were found in the Amaepasha Ruins so that’s what most scholars assume.” Nerida pulled her friend back by her shoulder which made her blink blankly as she didn’t realize that she leaned forward, “As sweet as this is, I need to cut to the chase. My mentor is going to come by tonight to check in on how I’m doing and I don’t even wanna think about how much trouble I’d be in if he caught me like this.” Alvina finally dropped her scowl and replaced it with a look of soft concern, “Why did you call, Nerida?” Ebele frowned when the hand on her arm tightened, “We went to the prayer hall. I stayed outside to make sure that no one would interrupt LeLe while she prayed. Some guards walked by and I heard something interesting. Troops from the Nizia Empire are coming, simple foot soldiers, within the next few days.” Radella tilted her head, “I thought it was a common tradition to bring low class soldiers to help with guarding important events like weddings as a sign of friendship?” Ebele felt her stomach drop as Nerida cut in, “It is. However, that’s not the part that was concerning. The younger guard asked why specialized soldiers weren’t coming. Apparently, the queen is putting together her own special battle group. This isn’t normal. Queen Hunu has to be feeling threatened by something or someone to create a group like this.” Alvina and Radella both looked concerned at this.

  


Radella shrunk into her pillow with tears in her eyes. Alvina crossed her arms in a way that looked more like she was trying to hug herself, “Do you have any idea who is part of this group or any suspicions as to what the threat could be?” Nerida looked over her shoulder at the door with a serious expression on her face, “This is only based on rumors and some strange things I found around the castle. I’m not certain, but there was talk that people from the Wanyth Dynasty were here for a meeting. I also saw some ice in the halls that lead to the usual meeting room. The emperor of the Wanyth Dynasty is known for being less than polite to female rulers. I think it’s obvious what I’m leading up to. I have no ideas as to who the special group members will be.” Ebele jumped in with a soft smile, “Della, it’s ok. Your queen is obviously smart enough to come up with ways to squash down threats. You don’t have to worry about any raids. It’ll be alright.” Radella gave a teary-eyed smile, “Thanks, Ebele. You know about a lot of stuff.” A stab of panic made the teen’s gut churn so she settled on a half-truth, “My city has a lot of scholars in it. There’s a lot of libraries you can go to. It’s almost impossible to not pick up something.” Radella nodded and looked like she wanted to ask something else but a faint voice came from the outside her door. She turned and listened before turning back to the mirror with an apologetic smile, “Sorry guys, my mom needs my help with something. Good night. It was nice meeting you, Ebele.” Ebele waved bye as Alvina and Nerida both said ‘goodnight’. Silence fell for a bit until the princess broke it, “Maybe Radella shouldn’t be included in discussions like these. She’s a little young and it looked like she was getting scared.” Alvina didn’t say anything but looked guilty. Nerida blinked a few times and rubbed her neck, “Yeah...I guess we forget that she’s still young. Anyways, has your dad said anything else weird?” Alvina unfolded her arms, “He’s been making more specialized blade weapons. What’s weird about it is he refuses to let me help. It’s almost like he doesn’t want me to see what he’s making. Father’s also been mumbling something about needing to prepare for something.” Nerida pressed further into Ebele’s side and gently tapped her head with her own. “It sounds like your dad might be making the supplies for the mystery group. Keep an ear out for anything suspicious from your dad or anyone in town. I’ll watch for anything else on my end too. I gotta go before someone walks in. Good night, Alvs.” Alvina bowed her head and gave Ebele a sharp glance, “I will, good night Ner. You watch your step, Miss Ebele. I better not hear that anything bad happened later from Nerida or you’ll—” Nerida’s face flushed and, with a sputter, swiped the mirror clean. Her face remained bright red as Ebele stared at the now normal mirror with wide eyes. She shifted a bit, “So, uh, your friend is a bit...intense.” Nerida put the hand mirror away in a bag, “I’m sorry. Alvs is a bit protective over me. I get bullied so often by other people our age that she acts hostile towards practically everyone. She’s one of the only people that isn’t bothered much by my condition, so we got pretty close. It’s nothing personal, I promise!” Ebele smiled a bit at how flustered Nerida got, “That’s understandable. I’m glad you have at least one friend who is willing to defend you. You should probably put your helmet back on before you get in trouble. I wish you didn’t have to. I like how you look without it.” The princess leaned back a bit when she noticed how Nerida was looking straight at her lips. Her smile turned a bit nervous, “Uh, is something wrong?” The knightling cradled Ebele’s cheek, “I know I can’t process your whole face, but I can still process the individual parts of your face. I think I like your smile the most. I like your dimples and your fangs. Your eyes are nice too, uh, are you feeling ok? Your face feels warm.” Ebele took Nerida’s hand off her cheek and held it in her own, “I’m fine...could you stay in the room with me? I know it’s against protocol, but I could use the company.” Nerida squeezed their joined hands, “Anything for you, my liege, anything for you.”


End file.
